***New update, boos! And finally, one more ship makes its entrance <3 And we're saving the song until the second POV - I don't want to distract from Zane's part until it's time for that road to diverge.***

***(Zane's POV)***

I arrive at the monastery, PIXAL in tow. After Cole contacted me about a factory explosion in Nom, I scanned the event through my database and located all possible information on it. The explosion was electrical, so I presume it may have something to do with the power plant's stolen plans from Ninjago City.

"Are you confident you would like my aid in this matter?" PIXAL asks softly, tugging on my hand.

I smile down at her. "Of course. I trust your judgment, and I believe your perspective on this situation will prove useful to my team."

She beams. "Will we be doing any undercover work? I brought an extra pair of boots, just in case."

PIXAL is a lover of shoes. I have no idea where she gained that affinity from, but it's quite adorable. It reminds me to take pride in my own attire.

"I am not sure whether we will have a mission or not this evening," I confess, "but no matter what, I would be honored to see the shoes you selected, PIXAL."

She grins in pure happiness, and I sigh contentedly. Since meeting PIXAL in February, life has been much sweeter. She's taught me much about self-acceptance and my personhood. In fact, she's the one who revealed to me that I am, in fact, an android. But instead of allowing that information to upset me, she showed me that I have a special kind of reality shared with no one but her.

I lead her inside to the couch, where Cole and Seliel are already seated. Nya appears to be on the phone, but she shakes her head and pulls the device away from her ear.

"Lloyd's still not picking up," she informs us. "I don't know what's up with him tonight."

Cole shrugs. "Your brother says he's on his way."

"And Jay's out of the question," she finishes.

Cole raises an eyebrow. "Jay's just fine, Nya. Besides, this was an electrical explosion. We kind of need him around."

"He's really not feeling well, Cole. He was in tears when I came back today." She massages the bridge of her nose. "I gave him one of Master Wu's teas to calm him down, so he basically can't come. He'd be spaced out the whole time."

"Wu's teas?" Cole groans. "He would've been fine without it, Nya. I'm telling you, he's not really sick! Watch, he'll magically get better tomorrow."

"Look, I trust Jay," Nya defends him. "If he says he's not feeling well, then he's not well. Zane could even do a scan of his vital functions or something to prove it."

I nod. "That is true. I would be happy to offer my services, should you desire them."

"I don't need proof, but thanks." Nya sighs. "We know for sure we can't take him anyway, since he had that tea. So it looks like it's down to us and Kai."

"Okay," Cole declares, taking charge. "I say we do a little investigation around that power plant. The police don't have many theories as to what could've happened."

"That seems like a wise course of action," I put in. "We could check for similarities in evidence to the Ninjago City power plant incident."

"Or lack of evidence," Nya moans. "There were no footprints at the power plant, and the forensics test came back negative for serpentine residue. So unless the intruder came in with a wheel chair, pretending to be the paralyzed engineer, we're stuck with a villain with the ability to avoid walking on the ground."

I speak up. "Keep in mind that there are many contraptions which allow one to escape walking. Our villain need not be footless."

"True," Cole agrees. "But the point here is that we should check out that factory in Nom. I say we wait on Kai, then get out of here."

"I'm coming with you," Seliel announces.

Cole shakes his head. "No. You can't walk, remember?"

Seliel glowers at him. "This is about a place where I lived for six years, Cole. My best friend's dad works at that factory. I don't care if I can't investigate with you; just let me stay with your ride and run communications or something."

"She's got a point," Nya says, advocating for her. Seliel sends her a silent nod.

Cole sighs. "Fine. You can come, Sel. But the moment you try getting out of the vehicle – "

"I know, I know, we go home. I could blow your cover. I get it." She waves him off.

"May PIXAL come with us?" I request. "Using her superior scanning capabilities, she could easily help us locate and discern evidence."

Cole shrugs. "I don't have a problem with it. Could be useful."

Nya, however, frowns. "Would she be staying back with Seliel, or coming with us? This mission requires stealth, Zane. We don't have police permission to check things out."

"PIXAL is incredibly stealthy," I support her.

She nods vigorously. "Indeed. Since meeting Zane, my father has been able to encrypt much of his training into my mind."

Cole sputters. "Zane, you shared your training with her?! You know we're not supposed to do that!"

"I apologize," I say sympathetically. "I did not think it would be unacceptable, given that you were so eager for Seliel to receive training."

Nya snickers, Seliel smirks, and Cole just blushes.

"Did I say something wrong?" I inquire.

Nya walks over to me and pats my shoulder. "No, Zane. You hit the nail on the head." She glances back down at her phone. "Still no reply from Lloyd?"

"I guess we're leaving without him," Cole sighs. "Welcome to the team, PIXAL and Sel."

Once Kai arrives several minutes later, we all head for our jet and prepare it for flight. Even though preparation takes a good half-hour, it's much quicker than the typical three-hour drive to Nom.

"Here's the plan," Cole tells us. "Seliel is staying with the jet to facilitate communications – that's settled. I want Kai and Nya together and PIXAL and Zane together, and I'll keep an eye on everyone. Kapeesh?"

Kai sighs miserably. "You're bossier than Lloyd, Cole."

The master of earth scowls at him. "Whatever. If anyone has a better plan, please speak now."

"Kai's just grumpy." Nya elbows him in the ribs. "Your plan is fine, Cole."

"I agree," I smile. "PIXAL and I would be happy to comply with your requests."

"You know," Kai muses, "I think PIXAL and Zane are the only couple we've ever brought on a mission who won't get distracted by making out or something."

"Jay and I never made out on a mission," Nya blushes. "How does that even apply to a mission?!"

Kai hitches a shoulder. "You never know. What if theoretically, somebody cast a spell on...Cole, for example, and Seliel had to kiss him back to reality?"

Seliel rolls her eyes. "Nya, your brother is an idiot."

"Don't think I haven't noticed."

PIXAL squeezes my fingers. "Zane, if someone ever cast a spell on you, it would be my pleasure to...kiss you back to reality, as your friend put it."

"Thank you, PIXAL," I simper.

Once we make it just outside Nom, we land the jet in the nearby woods and sneak out to the factory. It's a half-hour walk, so it's a good thing Seliel's staying with the ship. She never would have made it out here on foot.

Kai and Nya try to find a way in through the back while PIXAL and I take the front. PIXAL analyzes all front entry points and indicates that the best course of action is to shut off the alarm system. Apparently, the door was left unlocked.

Odd. Why would it be unlocked, especially after the strange activity occurring recently?

PIXAL gets Seliel on the phone and begins discussing with her how best to shut down the alarms. Meanwhile, I hear an unusual noise – voices come from inside the building.

I sneak to a nearby window, since I can hear through glass better.

"Did you find it?" asks a raspy voice.

"Shh," someone – a man – replies. Then, in a low tone: "No. I don't know how you fools dropped something so important!" I scan my database for the voices, but come up dry.

"We don't have much more time before we need to get out of here," the original speaker frets.

"I'm working on it," growls the second voice. He suddenly quiets.

And in that quiet, I realize Kai can be heard complaining from around the back of the building.

We're caught.

I jump into action, breaking through the building's window. I suppose catching criminals is more important than sneakiness at this point.

The alarm blares, and I run for the nearest figure. To my surprise, however, he poofs out of the way.

"A ninja," he growls in his Spanish accent.

The other figure gives a throaty gasp and speeds off.

I follow in pursuit, but suddenly find myself face to face with the Latin man I just encountered. "Where do you think you're going?" he smiles, a murderous tone to his voice. "I believe we have not yet been properly introduced."

I prepare to blast ice at him, but he teleports out of the way in the nick of time.

Kai suddenly busts in through the backdoor, aiming fire at the thug. Nya's right behind him with a blast of water, and she grimaces.

"It's Nadakhan!" she yells.

The figure poofs to where Kai and Nya are, crossing his arms and smirking. "And it's...oh, I forget your name. You're the annoying little girl who's dating the even more annoying, blue-obsessed boy, right?"

Nya cries out in anger and looks like she's about to kick him back to his mother's womb, but Cole appears behind her, grabbing her by the arms.

"He wants you to fall for that," he bites out. "Think, Nya! We fight better as a team!"

I take the moment to attempt to freeze the blade in the Latin man's – Nadakhan's – hand, but he notices my move and teleports toward me, swinging his sword. I roll out of the way just in time and make a run for my team.

Nadakhan just laughs and continues to teleport to different locations in the room, swinging his weapon at us. He is very difficult to catch, given his dynamic movements.

Cole braces his arms against the side of the building, sweat gathering on his forehead as he begins to shake the foundations of the structure.

He...must be trying to trap the criminal in here by crumbling the building on him. But – that will crush us, too!

Kai scoffs. "Are you kidding me? In your attempts to stop this guy, you're going to get us all killed!"

"No, I'm...not!" he groans.

Nya blinks in realization. "He's right! None of the rest of you remember, but when he, Lloyd, and I were all trapped underground when facing Garmadon for the last time, Cole was able to keep the ground from crushing us using his strength! He can keep the building from – "

Nadakhan reappears next to her, and she barely avoids a blow from his blade. She ducks just in time, allowing Kai to shoot fire right at the Djinn.

He poofs away just in time, grinning like a Cheshire cat. "It was nice meeting you all. And seeing you again, annoying little girl. But I'm afraid I must now go. My associate has escaped without your notice, and I no longer have need to distract you." He gives a deep laugh, then poofs away.

Nya scoffs. "He tricked us! That – "

"It does not matter now," I say urgently. "We must all get out of here before this edifice collapses!"

"That'd be nice," Cole grunts. "I shouldn't...have tried...to trap him!"

Kai forces open the backdoor, grunting as he does so. He grabs Nya and, with her over his shoulder, makes a running leap to get out of the structure.

I come next, ducking under a metal pole as it falls from the ceiling. "Cole," I yell, "come on!"

"That's what I'm doing!" He finally releases his hold on the building, allowing it to fall as he uses his super-strength to shield himself. He barely makes it out and books it to the wood line before the whole structure collapses.

I look at the four of us, who have all fallen in a heap. Nya bends beside Cole.

"You okay?" she asks.

"Fine," he winces. "W-why are there two of you?"

"He must've been hit in the head," she informs us. "He might have a concussion or..." She goes on, but my heart suddenly drops.

"PIXAL!" I gasp, running back toward the building. I left her around front while she attempted to break in. How could I be so foolish as to forget her?

"I'm right here," she calls. I see her figure move toward me through my night vision.

I laugh in relief, catching her in my arms as soon as we meet. "PIXAL! I – I was terrified something had happened to you."

She squeezes me tight. "I am all right, Zane. You have no cause for worry."

After a moment longer, we terminate our embrace and head back to find the others. Cole seems a little dazed, so Kai helps him walk while Nya...tries to help him. I run to take over her job.

"My guess is he has a concussion," Nya asserts. "Zane, can you run a scan of his mental functions at the moment?"

"Of course, I can. That was never in question. I believe the phrase which you intended was 'will you run a scan of his mental functions'." I perform the required diagnostic as I speak.

Nya huffs. "Whatever, Zane. PIXAL, any way you can ask Seliel to get the jet any closer? There's no good landing spot, but there's a rope ladder we can climb while she's in the air. And while she's on her way, get her to call the police. Nadakhan and his crony are off to who knows where right now. And with his ability to teleport..." She slaps her forehead. "We might never catch them now!"

I finish my scan of Cole's head. "It does appear he has a mild concussion," I inform my team.

"Great," Cole mutters. "What a fun way to start finals week."

***(Jay's POV; song for this chapter: "Cry Me a River" by Michael Buble)***

https://youtu.be/ab6eXLDUq1w

I sigh to myself, pulling out my cell phone. No messages from the team. I get that they think I drank some drugged tea, but I'd still like an update on their progress. What if they need my help?

But then again, if I'd had the tea, I wouldn't be able to help, would I?

Guilt swirls in my stomach, but I combat it with remembering how close together this "sickness" has brought Nya and me. I mean, she told me she still wanted to date me today. Not that she thought I was awake, but I'm sure she was telling the truth.

And that means...I still have a chance with her.

I stand up and walk into the kitchen, pulling out an old bag of Ninja Chips. Pretending to be ill is hard business.

That's when I hear the door slam open, and I jump. Oh, no! Nya! She – if she sees me with food –

I rush to stuff my chips back in the pantry and just manage to before Kai and Zane come in, dragging Cole with them. He has a huge bruise on his forehead.

"Oh, my gosh!" I yell. "Cole! What – what happened?"

"He has a concussion," Nya explains, following hot on their heels. She pulls out a kitchen chair for him to sit in.

Seliel's hobbles in, slower than the others given her leg injury. "He's an idiot who decided to bring down a building to defeat some teleporting Djinn." She seats herself in his lap, running her hands over his shoulders in comfort.

"I – what?" I sputter.

Nya scowls at me. "Jay, why are you even – " Her eyes widen in realization.

Oh, no.

I have been officially busted.

She turns back to the situation at hand, her expression cold. "Zane, how bad is his concussion? Does he need medical attention? You know more about these things than we do."

Zane frowns. "The concussion, according to my scanners, is only mild. This is also evidenced by his mild symptoms – he remembers the event and is only experiencing dizziness and slight confusion. As long as he rests and we wake him up every few hours to ensure his recovery is progressing, he should be fine."

"I'll keep an eye on him," Seliel asserts.

Nya shakes her head. "No, you won't. You're a cripple. You can stay up with him, but there'll need to be someone else with you who can get help if something goes wrong."

Seliel scowls at her, but after a moment of thought, she gives her a slight nod. "Whatever."

I slowly back out of the kitchen, hoping to escape the chaos. They don't really need my help right now, and the expression on Nya's face is twisting my insides, so it's probably best if –

"Where do you think you're going?" Nya challenges, leveling me with a glare.

"Um...to...get things ready for Cole! Right. That's – yup, that's what I'm doing."

She rolls her eyes. "He either needs to be in Seliel's room or mine." She marches up to me, touching her fingers to my forehead, and scowls. "I should've listened to Cole!"

"Um...listened to Cole...about what?" I gulp.

Nya huffs. "You obviously don't need my room anymore, so we might as well give the girl who can't walk her space and let Cole use my quarters."

"Oh, um, uh-huh." I rush off to make Nya's bed and clean up my studying materials.

I think I might have committed a stupid.

A few minutes later, Cole comes in. He stumbles a little as he walks, so Kai and Zane support him. Seliel makes fun of Cole, trying to lighten the situation by saying she's not the only cripple anymore. Cole just looks exhausted and dizzy.

That's when Nya appears next to me, arms crossed. "Can we talk?" she grits. "Outside?"

"Um...Nya, I'm not really in the mood for heavy conversations right now, and you seem just about to blow up, so I think we should – "

She snatches my hand and drags me outside her room, softly closing the door behind her.

And that's when she starts.

"What the heck?" she yells angrily, jabbing a finger into my chest. "You lied to me!"

"Now you say you're lonely,

You cry the whole night through.

Well you can cry me a river,

Cry me a river, 'cause I cried a river over you."

"I...didn't mean to make you mad," I say placatingly.

"No. Of course, you didn't want me to be mad, since that would hurt you. You only wanted to get close to me, to get...some sort of love confession out of me while I was weakest!" She throws her hands in the air. "Isn't that true, Jay?"

"No," I insist, taking her by the shoulders. "I didn't want to take advantage of you, Nya." Guilt pools in my stomach.

She tears herself out of my hold so violently, she slams her back into the wall, rattling a nearby picture frame.

"And now you say you're sorry

For bein' so untrue.

Well you can cry me a river,

Cry me a river, 'cause I cried a river over you."

"Jay," she seethes, "this whole thing was about taking advantage of me. I trusted you! You're the only one I trusted! How could you just exploit me like that?!"

"'Exploit' is a strong word. I prefer – "

"I don't give a whit what you prefer, Jay Walker. I let you have privileges friends shouldn't have, just because I thought you were sick and that I could make you feel better. I should've listened to Cole and Kai and Seliel, but no! And why didn't I trust them? Oh, wait, I know. It's because everyone in my life betrays me!" She's so mad, she's in tears.

I approach her cautiously. "I'm sorry, Nya. I didn't mean to break your trust."

She lowers her head, sighing. I take that as my invitation to continue.

"Nya, the thing was, I really missed you – missed us – and I thought I could show you that you still had feelings for me by getting you to take care of me." I swallow. "Is it true? Is it true that you really would do anything for us to be together?" I place my hand on her cheek gently.

She rears back as though I slapped her. "I – you – you heard me say that? You acted like you were asleep just so you could get me to – ugh!" She turns and slams her fist into the wall.

I guess it's a good thing we have hardwood walls and not drywall.

"I'm really sorry," I apologize. "But I love you, Nya, and...I couldn't help myself."

"...And now you say you love me,

Well, just to prove that you do,

Why don't you cry me a river,

Cry me a river, 'cause I cried a river over you, over you."

She scoffs, turning around with red-rimmed eyes. "You only love yourself! You just want me because I make you feel good! I satisfy some need for love that you have, and you don't even care that I'm a person!"

I fumble for words. "Nya...how...how could you say that? Of course, I love you! I'd swim the deepest ocean and walk the longest road and climb the highest mountain, if only I could be with you! I'd rescue you from – "

"Save it!" she begs. "Just save it, Jay. Why does no one in my life actually care about me? Why – "

The door behind us opens, and we both swivel to see Seliel poke her head out.

She clears her throat. "Look, Nya, I know you have a martyr complex and all, but your life isn't even half-bad. Keep your arguing to a low volume, please – Cole just got a concussion, and the loud noises are hurting his head." She smiles curtly and closes the door behind her.

Nya sputters. "Martyr complex? I do not have a martyr complex! She – I – "

I take her by the elbows. "Let's go sit down to finish this talk, okay?"

Nya jabs her elbow right into my ribcage. "There is no talk, Jay. Just leave me alone."

"You say you loved me, but you lied.

Now you say you love me,

Well, just to prove that you do,

Come on and cry me a river,

Oh, cry me a river,

I cried a river over you."

I release a whoosh of breath and rub the place where she elbowed me. "No, Nya. I get that you're mad, but I can take that. I really want to work this out with you because – "

"Because you love me? I've heard that before, but I'm telling you, it's not true." She sighs miserably, shaking her head. "Look, we'll talk in the morning, okay? Let me go stew over this for a night. I need to call Lloyd and make sure he isn't dead or something." She stalks off, muttering under her breath, "I don't have a martyr complex. She has a martyr complex!"

And I'm left standing in the hallway alone, feeling overwhelmingly as though I've blown it.

"I cried a river over you, I cried a river.

Now you can, too, cry me a river.

Cry me a river."

***Well, dang.

Thoughts? That chapter went from, like, zero drama and a lot of action, to DRAMA CENTRAL. BQEOFBHJDKUIPGQER.

Next chapter should be out tomorrow! <3***